This invention relates to the field of endoscopy and more particularly to endoscopic devices that utilize fiber optic detection of fluorescence.
Endoscopes are employed as a routine clinical macroscopic examination tool. One of the most common methods for producing high-quality, optically sectioned, microscopic images, confocal microscopy employs a pinhole or multiple pinholes to capture image data from a specific optical section. Moreover, a confocal raster scanning endoscope scans the tip of a fiber bundle to reconstruct a high-resolution image. With this method, an image is taken in the forward-facing direction of the endoscope. Although adequate, this configuration limits the endoscope to operation in situations where a surface plane orthogonal to the tip of the endoscope is encountered. Furthermore, in this configuration, the imaging lens used for confocal and widefield imaging is typically the same lens, limiting the spatial confocal resolution.
Thus, there is a need to improve endoscopic devices being used to obtain images in the forward-facing direction and the lateral direction relative to a passage within a vessel.